


Ally

by brookreader0



Series: ACME Gray [1]
Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: But once he gets them his romantic feelings for Carmen kinda just disappear, Gen, Gray doesn't have his memories back in this, Jules & Gray have a conversation about Carmen, SO, acme gray, chase is just there in the beginning, eh, one-sided Red Crackle, that's it that's the fic, vaguely implied Jule Thief, zari is mentioned but she's not really important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26016802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brookreader0/pseuds/brookreader0
Summary: After just barely failing to catch Carmen Sandiego, Julia and Graham have a conversation regarding their respective relationships with and feelings towards the super thief.
Relationships: Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep & Gray | Crackle, Julia "Jules" Argent & Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep, Julia "Jules" Argent & Gray | Crackle
Series: ACME Gray [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1888333
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	Ally

“I cannot believe she has evaded my grasp again! If it were not for that stupid glider-” 

Julia hums noncommittally, mostly tuning out Agent Devineaux’s ranting. Her heart feels heavy in her chest, though unlike her partner she cannot say truthfully that it’s because Carmen Sandiego got away. 

“Uh… ‘scuse me,” a voice behind her cuts in. Julia turns around to find herself find face to face with Graham Edison, Carmen Sandiego’s former… ally? Friend? Date? No one seems quite sure. At any rate, he’s ACME’s newest asset. The reason they  _ almost  _ captured Carmen today. 

“Agent Argent?” He gives a slightly awkward smile. Julia wonders, not for the first time, if he has any regrets about betraying the super thief.

“Yes?” She pushes her musings aside to focus on the present. Edison glances at Chase, who has stopped rambling to stare irritatedly at the newcomer, then back at her, a hint of uncertainty worming its way onto his face.  _ Interesting.  _ “Can I help you?” she prompts.

“Yeah, um, actually I was wondering if we could talk.” His eyes dart over to Devineaux again, then back to Julia. “Alone, if you don’t mind.”

“Absolutely not!” Devineaux snaps before Julia can even open her mouth. She raises a hand to silence him, which does absolutely nothing. “Anything you wish to discuss with Agent Argent-”    


“Yeah, see, I wasn’t really asking YOU, mate,” Graham interrupts, crossing his arms and shooting Chase an annoyed look. Julia’s eyebrows nearly shoot off of her forehead.

Devineaux’s shocked silence only lasts about half a second. “Why you insolent-”

“Enough!” Julia cuts him off and plows on before he can start chewing her out instead. “Mr. Edison, I assume you wanted to discuss what just happened with Carmen Sandiego?” she guesses _. _

“You are not seriously-”

“I told you, just call me Graham. But, exactly.” Edison grins at her, completely ignoring Chase. “So, you got a minute?”

“She-”

“Actually, Agent Devineaux,” Julia interrupts him a second time. “I think I will take a moment to speak with Mr.- Graham here.” Chase gawks at her. “I’m sure he has some questions, and since it seems like he may be working with us for a while I think it would be good for me to fill him in as best as I can.”   


“I- but- by yourself?!” Devineaux sputters. “Are you sure about this, Ms. Argent?” Underneath the indignation Julia thinks she sees something else flicker in his eyes - uncertainty, maybe. Worry? “Surely it would be better to have myself or Agent Zari-”

“No, I’ll do it.” Out of the corner of her eye she sees Edison glancing back and forth between the two of them. “I’m more than capable of handling a simple conversation by myself, Agent Devineaux.” She turns away from him. “Go on ahead, we’ll meet up with you in about… ten minutes?” She raises her eyebrows at Graham, who nods quickly. “Alright.” 

She strides briskly past Graham, ignoring Chase’s annoyed muttering.  _ Oh, I’m going to get an earful for this later.  _ Still. There is something in Graham’s expression, both just now and throughout the capture mission, that makes her want to hear him out. Makes her think that perhaps… perhaps he isn’t any more certain about their mission to capture Carmen than she is.

_ You’d think I would know better than to get my hopes up by now,  _ she thinks wryly, slowing down a little and glancing up at Graham as he falls into step beside her. He regards her quietly, his face twisted slightly as if he’s trying to figure something out. She breaks his gaze self-consciously and glances behind her. Chase is trudging in the opposite direction, towards the ticket booth.  _ Good. _

“Well he must be a joy to work with.” Julia jumps a little at Edison’s voice, and it takes her a moment to process what he means.

“He means well. And he is a very intelligent man.” She defends Chase automatically. Graham snorts as if he doesn’t quite believe her. She looks back up at him. His eyes are fixed at some point ahead of them now. “So… um, was there anything specific you wanted to ask me?”

“Yeah.” Graham briefly glances down at her, then back to the expanse of little shops and things in the train station in front of them. “So, I noticed you’re on a first-name basis with Carmen.” Julia feels herself stiffen. “Or at least she’s on a first-name basis with you,” he adds with a half-chuckle. 

_ Julia,  _ Carmen had said coolly, when she stepped out from her hiding place. She had felt like crying.

“Well so are you,” she tells Graham, a little more defensively than she means to.

“Yeah, cuz we know each other. Or she knows me, or whatever.” He raises a hand as if to silence her, though she hadn’t spoken again. “Look, I’m not trying to, like, accuse you of anything. I was just wondering if you’d… I dunno, talked with her?”

Julia sighs. “Yes, I have spoken with her before. Quite a bit, actually.” Edison raises an eyebrow and Julia forces herself to meet his eyes. “For a long time, I held the belief that Ms. Sandiego was… well, a noble thief, I guess. Every single one of the artifacts she ever ‘stole’ would end up returned to where they belonged, and sometimes we’d find evidence of a struggle at the crime scenes, which led me to believe that what was really happening was that other people - Vile, probably - were stealing artifacts and Carmen Sandiego was returning them.” 

Julia pauses to study Graham’s face. He’s staring directly at her, raptly interested. He nods as though to urge her to continue. “Um… sometimes she even left stolen items for me to find. The first time she did that she spoke with me briefly. I didn’t recognize her at the time, but after she disappeared I found the Magna Carta sitting on my train seat.” She knows she’s rambling now, but she cannot seem to stop. “One time I even helped her and her team get valuable dresses away from… someone. Vile sympathizers, I think, and the whole time she was totally focused on getting the gowns to safety. I thought… I was  _ certain  _ that she was on our side, really.” Julia takes a deep breath. She notices distantly that they’ve stopped walking. 

“So what happened?” Graham’s voice is soft.

“Chief said she would allow me to speak with Ms. Sandiego alone, to try to recruit her. She approached me, just as I’d hoped she would, and we went to a bell tower to talk. But before we could really even begin to discuss anything, we were surrounded by ACME agents.” The anger of that day that’s never really faded simmers under her skin again.

“So, they used you as a trap, is what I’m hearing.” Edison crosses his arms and frowns.

“Yes.” Julia clasps her hands behind her back, digging her nails into the palm of her hand. “Agent Zari told me later that they had thought that I’d been compromised because we weren’t in the exact location they thought we would be,” she feels obligated to add. Even though honestly she doubts what happened in Stockholm really had much to do with ACME’s concern for her safety. “Carm- uh, Ms. Sandiego was understandably angry, and she ran away.” A quirk of Graham’s lips dashes her hope that he didn’t notice her slip up.  _ Oh well. _ “She ended gliding away and being stranded in the woods. In the snow. She contacted Chief later to ask for help, presumably because she had no other option. And-”

“Wait, hang on, how’d she get a hold of Chief?” Graham interrupts.

“Oh, um, she, she…” Julia pauses to rerail her train of thought. “She stole my pen,” she admits, looking down at the white tile floor as she feels her cheeks heat up.

Graham chuckles. Julia’s head snaps back up, but he’s looking off to the side, a sort of fond smile on his face. “Cheeky,” he murmurs.

“Um, if you don’t mind me asking-” Graham jumps a little, as though he had forgotten she was there. “-What… exactly, is the nature of  _ your _ relationship with Carmen Sandiego?”

“Uhh, well…” He lets out a little laugh and rubs the side of his neck. “I’m… not sure? I asked her out on a date, but then she stood me up, but then she came back and we  _ did _ end up going out, but I don’t know if it was really like, a date?” He shrugs as Julia silently buries the hint of jealousy that just flickered to life in her chest. “Also, I guess I really reminded her of somebody else she knew… when we first met she was all suspicious for some reason, and she kept calling me ‘Gray’ all the time.” He frowns. Julia bites her lip, wondering if it’s a coincidence that the first thing she thought when she met Graham was that she had seen him somewhere before.

_ It is imperative that ACME view the world in shades of gray,  _ she remembers Chief saying, and she thinks that nickname is appropriate, though she couldn’t say why. Instead she says, “Oh, she’s done that with me, too.”

Graham gives her a weird look. “Called you ‘Gray’?”

“Wh- no. I mean, just, gave me a nickname. A different one.”

“Oh?” Gray raises an eyebrow.

“Um. Jules,” she clarifies, dropping her gaze again.

“Huh.” His voice is hard to read, and when she glances back up at his face he looks lost in thought. They stand there a few moments longer, as Julia turns the conversation over and over again in her mind.

Finally she sighs. “Well, it’s probably been about ten minutes,” she guesses. “We should head back before Agent Devineaux hunts us down.”

Graham snaps back to attention and gives a quick, amused huff. “Yeah, okay.” Together they turn and slowly walk back towards where Zari and hopefully Chase should be waiting for them.

“Julia.” A hand on her shoulder stops her just as she catches sight of her coworkers. “I mean, Agent Argent,” Graham corrects himself as his hand falls back down to his side.

“Julia is fine,” she surprises herself by saying. Gray gives her a small smile that quickly falls back into a serious expression. 

“You said earlier that you used to think Carmen Sandiego was a good person.” Julia’s breath hitches in her throat as she realizes what he’s about to ask. His light brown eyes bore into her own black ones. “Have you changed your mind?”

Chief, Devineaux, and Zari had each asked her the same question at some point, in their own ways, and Julia had lied to all three of them. Lied to avoid a lecture and, in Chief’s case, to keep her job. 

“No,” she says now, truthfully, tilting her head back a bit so Graham can better see her face. “No I have not.”

He nods sharply, his eyes never leaving Julia’s. “Yeah. Me neither.”

She offers him a small smile, which he returns. Wordlessly, the two of them turn away and continue walking.

Julia’s heart is still heavy, but she has to admit she feels better than she did. At least she has an ally now.


End file.
